Thunderous Cacophony:Taking on gun fans and the indie scene in the same video... This comment section will be interesting.

My exact thoughts, there are a lot of people who may react strongly to this.

I liked them both today, although with Jim's I am wondering whether he had a specific indie game in mind when he wrote his, or whether he was just thinking of indie games in general. I do find it funny how many Steam green light games are about zombies though.

RJ 17:Yeah yeah, I'll bight. Guns are no more to blame than games, movies, books, pictures, and spoken word. Crazy people will do crazy things whether or not they have a gun to do them with.

Very true, although I think it's a very small minority who think that guns actually cause violence. It's more about how easy they make it.

Desert Punk:yay for liberal whining I suppose? Go blame cars for drunk drivers next ect ect, and a few months late for the big stink about guns though.

Most people don't *really* believe guns are to blame for gun violence, but they WILL contest that it's damned more likely a school got shot up because he had easy access to an assault rifle than it was due to him playing videogames all week. Kind of a "let's see how you like being blamed for shit" turn which seems to provoke a lot of responses similar to yours so hey I guess everybody just missed the joke? But seriously, the blame for gun violence falls squarely on all the loons out there who thought they could beat Cho's high score.

Thunderous Cacophony:Taking on gun fans and the indie scene in the same video... This comment section will be interesting.

My exact thoughts, there are a lot of people who may react strongly to this.

I liked them both today, although with Jim's I am wondering whether he had a specific indie game in mind when he wrote his, or whether he was just thinking of indie games in general. I do find it funny how many Steam green light games are about zombies though.

I think he was just poking fun at the indi scene in general, as there are far too many 2d platformers that try to be witty in the indi scene.

Though it seems Unity is giving independants a lot more freedom in the types of games they make these days.

RJ 17:Yeah yeah, I'll bight. Guns are no more to blame than games, movies, books, pictures, and spoken word. Crazy people will do crazy things whether or not they have a gun to do them with.

Very true, although I think it's a very small minority who think that guns actually cause violence. It's more about how easy they make it.

And see, I have absolutely no problem with having THAT discussion as it's a perfectly reasonable one to have. But as I said, crazy people will always be able to do crazy things whether or not they have a gun. We're in an age where you can look up instructions on building a bomb at your local library. Guns do indeed make it easier for a crazy person to pull off a mass killing, but the vast majority of people who have/use guns have no intention of bringing harm to anyone (militaries excluded, obviously :P).

The only issue that I have with the gun debate is when people start saying that guns cause violence which, judging by the comments in the news articles every time some senator pops up saying "Ban games because they lead to shootings!", there's a depressingly large number of Escapists that seem to believe that the guns are to blame for the violence. And judging by Yahtzee's poem heavily implying (though to be fair, not out-right saying) that the guns themselves are the problem, apparently he does too. :P

RJ 17:Yeah yeah, I'll bight. Guns are no more to blame than games, movies, books, pictures, and spoken word. Crazy people will do crazy things whether or not they have a gun to do them with.

Very true, although I think it's a very small minority who think that guns actually cause violence. It's more about how easy they make it.

And see, I have absolutely no problem with having THAT discussion as it's a perfectly reasonable one to have. But as I said, crazy people will always be able to do crazy things whether or not they have a gun. We're in an age where you can look up instructions on building a bomb at your local library. Guns do indeed make it easier for a crazy person to pull off a mass killing, but the vast majority of people who have/use guns have no intention of bringing harm to anyone (militaries excluded, obviously :P).

The only issue that I have with the gun debate is when people start saying that guns cause violence which, judging by the comments in the news articles every time some senator pops up saying "Ban games because they lead to shootings!", there's a depressingly large number of Escapists that seem to believe that the guns are to blame for the violence. And judging by Yahtzee's poem heavily implying (though to be fair, not out-right saying) that the guns themselves are the problem, apparently he does too. :P

That is unfortunately just the way a significant proportion of peoples brains work. It is in our nature to look for the easiest solutions and so for many they will see guns as the common and obvious link and assume that it must be the problem. The issue I see is that it is too late to really use banning guns as a solution.

Back before they were so common in such countries it may have been possible, but now that they are everywhere banning them would have absolutely no benefit to the average person. The people who own one with the intention of harming another are not going to give their weapon up just because of the law, so criminals would still have them. It'd only harm normal people and benefit criminals should it happen now. Seeing as they could profit from selling them as they'd be the only supplier.

I don't believe Yahtzee was suggesting guns were the problem, so much as he was just mocking the way a lot of people seem to look at everything except guns as a possible problem. The NRA for example seem to not only think guns are not a problem, but that more guns would be a solution. I think he was making fun of that kind of attitude more than anything else.

I loved Jim's one this week. Me and my friends often joke about the indie scene, and how damn samey most of them are. I highly suspect if you look at the entirety of the indie and AAA scene, you would find about the same amount of innovation and originality. And yes, this is coming from a fan of artsty indie games. XD

RJ 17:Yeah yeah, I'll bight. Guns are no more to blame than games, movies, books, pictures, and spoken word. Crazy people will do crazy things whether or not they have a gun to do them with.

Political differences aside, I still enjoyed both poems, though the meter in Jim's seemed a bit off. :P

I suppose I interpreted the poem differently. I thought the part about guns specifically was just to go with the flow of the poem, but the moral or point or whatever stood as some people do scary shit regardless of what you ban.

And if this video proves anything, it's that Catcher in the Rye will always suck ass.

Yeah. I remember that. God, it was terrible. The main character spent the entire book whining something to the tune of "WHY WON'T EVERYONE ACCOMMODATE MY TERRIBLE MISTAKES AND GIVE ME EVERYTHING I WANT?! WHHHHHYYYY?!?!"

And if this video proves anything, it's that Catcher in the Rye will always suck ass.

Yeah. I remember that. God, it was terrible. The main character spent the entire book whining something to the tune of "WHY WON'T EVERYONE ACCOMMODATE MY TERRIBLE MISTAKES AND GIVE ME EVERYTHING I WANT?! WHHHHHYYYY?!?!"

If they really wanted to stop school shooting they'd take that book off the required reading list. SO MANY lives saved!

And if this video proves anything, it's that Catcher in the Rye will always suck ass.

Yeah. I remember that. God, it was terrible. The main character spent the entire book whining something to the tune of "WHY WON'T EVERYONE ACCOMMODATE MY TERRIBLE MISTAKES AND GIVE ME EVERYTHING I WANT?! WHHHHHYYYY?!?!"

I am so very glad that I took Film as Literature instead of the garbage that was American Lit in High School.

Ok, everyone has brought up that "banning guns won't solve the problem," so I won't. What I feel I must point out is that the NRA and other pro-gun advocates aren't the only ones calling for game censorship. The anti-gun people are calling for it, too. *cough* Feinstein *cough*

And everything I keep hearing about Catcher in the Rye makes me glad I've never read it.

On Jim's topic, it really does seem like the term "indie" carries the connotation of "originality," but that's all dependent on the developer's attitude about the game they're making.

Guns aren't to blame... but there are a lot of crazy people in this world... and perhaps its just me, but I'd rather deal with a crazy person armed with a knife or box cutter than a gun.

I enjoyed the indie bit more though. The indie scene has great games, however to claim innovation is a big stretch. They are simply going in the opposite direction when compared to AAA. They are tired of shooters so they retreat back in time to the shooters of the "golden age" which were platformers. Its no surprise that so many fans of indie games are NDF members :P

This statement is coming from a 2nd amendment supporter: I'm pretty sure Yahtzee's point wasn't "guns are bad, mkay?" but that weapon manufacturers advocate banning pretend violence to deal with the real violence problem the U.S. faces(/distract from the fact that they lobby for deregulation that bolsters the illegal sale/use of firearms cuz "hey, we get paid either way, right?"; that last part is just my personal observation)

Jim's was equally excellent

bandit0802:Ok, everyone has brought up that "banning guns won't solve the problem," so I won't. What I feel I must point out is that the NRA and other pro-gun advocates aren't the only ones calling for game censorship. The anti-gun people are calling for it, too. *cough* Feinstein *cough*

And everything I keep hearing about Catcher in the Rye makes me glad I've never read it.

On Jim's topic, it really does seem like the term "indie" carries the connotation of "originality," but that's all dependent on the developer's attitude about the game they're making.

I have to say, I am impressed. When I first saw this my initial thought was "Oh no, he referenced real tragic events to make a joke. Now I am going to see several comments of people yelling at him along the lines of: Too soon!, Stick to comedy and leave the social commentary to people who are actually serious!" I am glad everyone watched this and are having actual discussions about it which is how it should be. My 2 cents is I know a lawyer who works for the Department of Public Safety and it is good to know that many people are not able to obtain a gun license. Mainly getting criminal records have one lose it or not obtain one in the first place and every gun you can get from a shop has a serial number on it that is almost impossible to get rid of. But I do wish there could be a little more control of things like gun shows, most guns don't have serial numbers and background checking is iffy at best.

yay for liberal whining I suppose? Go blame cars for drunk drivers next ect ect, and a few months late for the big stink about guns though.

Cars have an important transportation function, knives have an important culinary function. You can't compare a weapon to a practical tool. Guns make it easier to kill larger amounts of people and serve such a small function in civilized life. It's reasonable to require a background check for them, and to limit clip size so that you can only kill so many people with one if you're a murderer. If you're going to say this is about people wanting to ban all guns then point me to one American politican, they have to be at the level of a governor,congressman, president/VP or cabinet member, who supports such a thing. I have never heard rhetoric of banning all guns from any one important besides people using it as a strawman.

BreakfastMan:I loved Jim's one this week. Me and my friends often joke about the indie scene, and how damn samey most of them are. I highly suspect if you look at the entirety of the indie and AAA scene, you would find about the same amount of innovation and originality. And yes, this is coming from a fan of artsty indie games. XD

They are pretty much the same folks burning the same candle from both ends. What we have to look forward to is a DIY scene. It would come faster if people would quit soaking so much of their time and energy into modding commercial games.

yay for liberal whining I suppose? Go blame cars for drunk drivers next ect ect, and a few months late for the big stink about guns though.

Cars have an important transportation function, knives have an important culinary function. You can't compare a weapon to a practical tool. Guns make it easier to kill larger amounts of people and serve such a small function in civilized life. It's reasonable to require a background check for them, and to limit clip size so that you can only kill so many people with one if you're a murderer. If you're going to say this is about people wanting to ban all guns then point me to one American politican, they have to be at the level of a governor,congressman, president/VP or cabinet member, who supports such a thing. I have never heard rhetoric of banning all guns from any one important besides people using it as a strawman.

Not gonna turn this into a gun debate thread, but I do have to say, you sure didnt need a gun to kill that strawman did ya?

yay for liberal whining I suppose? Go blame cars for drunk drivers next ect ect, and a few months late for the big stink about guns though.

Cars have an important transportation function, knives have an important culinary function. You can't compare a weapon to a practical tool. Guns make it easier to kill larger amounts of people and serve such a small function in civilized life. It's reasonable to require a background check for them, and to limit clip size so that you can only kill so many people with one if you're a murderer. If you're going to say this is about people wanting to ban all guns then point me to one American politican, they have to be at the level of a governor,congressman, president/VP or cabinet member, who supports such a thing. I have never heard rhetoric of banning all guns from any one important besides people using it as a strawman.

Pretty much this.

I think there is one important question which should be asked that no one seems to be asking: why are all of the non-lethal ammunition types banned from public use, or illegal for private citizens to use? I haven't done any in-depth research on this, so don't take what I say as 100% fact, but as far as I can tell all forms of non-lethal measures to stop and/or incapacitate an attacker are illegal for private citizens to own (IE: rubber bullets, disrupter rounds, sandbag rounds, pepper spray bullets, taser rounds -- and yes, those last two types DO exist). Why is this? I see real bullets being needed for hunting purposes for specific kinds of rifles, but why not avail all of the non-lethal measures to the public? Then there would no longer be the need for citizens to carry live ammunition to defend themselves, but this is just in my opinion.

On that same note, why (at least in California) are there only five types of taser a citizen is allowed to own? The rest are for peace officers only. Again, why limit stopping power of a non-lethal level to only law enforcement rather than the general public? I know I would have no qualms about owning a gun if I had access to non-lethal ammunition types, or a reliable taser....

I really don't want to turn this into a debate thread, honestly, I am just genuinely curious about this. lol